Changing Managers Now Won’t Help
As optimistic as I try to be I have to believe that the Mets season is over. I don’t think we need to wait and see what happens on this road trip to call it.
We Mets fans certainly know how badly a team with a 7.5 game lead in August must play to lose the division. (As an aside I don’t usually say that teams that don’t win the division have lost it. But when you blow a lead similar to how the Mets did in 2007 you have lost the division.) And no managerial/coaching change, whether it’s Bob Melvin, Bobby Valentine or Wally Backman, can provide enough spark to propel the team to win (and their rivals to lose) enough to overtake such a lead.
No, it’s time to think of next year. Don’t make any changes right now. Decide who’s going to be your general manager next year (I’d approve a reassignment of Omar Minaya) and let him hire a new manager/coaching staff. Release Oliver Perez, whose refusal of a minor league assignment has brought the team to the 24+1 situation they refused to put themselves into when Alex Rodriguez wanted to come to the team only without the benefit of Hall of Fame caliber numbers/ability. Likewise release Next, Luis Castillo, who is taking up a roster spot that is better filled by a younger player, should be released. (Daniel Murphy should have never been moved to LF/1B.) Take the financial hit of cutting these players to allow new blood to come in as well as send a message to the players that they’re either with the program or they’re out.
I’m not sure where to go after that but it’s certainly a start
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Enough Disection
The following short rant was too long for Twitter so I’ve transplanted it here:
Omar Minaya said yesterday that Jerry Manuel and Howard Johnson are safe… for now. So today everyone and their grandmother is siding with or against Minaya’s opinion. A lot of people were surprised by this but I’m not. I mean, what do you expect him to say? “My manager and coaching staff sucks and I’m going to replace them all as soon as I find the right people”?
Let’s get real. Minaya’s response was quite neutral and I wouldn’t expect anything else. Even if he’s going to make a move he’d be foolish to admit it before replacements are finalized (even interim replacements). So let’s not get too caught up in the semantics of any such responses and deal with the reality that Jerry Manuel and company are here until it’s announced that they’re not.
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Manuel Back On The Chopping Block
With the start of the second half of the season resulting in a 2-9 record the talk of manager Jerry Manuel’s job being in jeopardy have been resurrected. There’s also been talk of hitting coach Howard Johnson being on the hot seat.
If winning and losing is the criteria with which you hire and fire a manager during the season then I understand the reason for this. I mean when the team had a lackluster start people were calling for Manuel’s head. But when they got things going in June I heard some people saying he should be named manager of the year. But with a 6-15 July they’re calling for his head again.
I don’t really care so much. I’ve never been a big Jerry Manuel fan. He was the natural choice for interim manager when Willie Randolph was fired. And though he earned the permanent job despite a breakdown at the end of the season I’ve always felt there were better choices out there. And I’m not talking about Bobby Valentine, who, although I’m not a big fan of, would be a better choice than Manuel.
There are obvious choices within the organization like Bob Melvin. Long shot choices like Lou Pinella and Buck Showalter. Sentimental choices like Bobby V, Gary Carter and Wally Backman. These are just a few of the available (or soon to be available) managers that I like better than Manuel.
Who do you think should be the next manager of the Mets? Leave me some comments.
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Perez Ready To Help? I Think Not
I was reading David Waldstein‘s post in the Bats blog about the return of Oliver Perez to active duty for the Mets. I had some trouble getting past the first paragraph. It had nothing to do with the writing but everything to do with what was said.
The paragraph ended as follows:
He threw in the bullpen before the game and told reporters that he was ready to help the Mets in any way they requested.
This clashes with what is actually happening.
Before being put on the disabled list Perez was refusing a minor league assignment designed to allow him to work out his problems as a starting pitcher. Instead Perez wanted to remain in the majors where he would be relegated to mop up duty. I understood Perez’s point of view even though I disagreed with it.
Now, after a stay on the DL and a minor league rehab assignment in which he didn’t perform very well, he’s back on the team and relegated to lefty specialist and mop up duty. The team is clearly trying to keep him out of harms way which will limit his innings and his chances of working out his issues. The team is clearly done with him after his previous refusal to work things out at Buffalo. The only thing keeping them from letting him go is his contract.
If Perez was really ready to help the Mets in any way they requested he wouldn’t be buried in the bullpen. He’d be working on his stuff on a regular schedule as a starting pitcher in the minors. That’s what’s best for the team as well as for his chances of returning to a starting rotation in the major leagues (with the Mets or anyone else).
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RIP George Steinbrenner
Who would have thought I’d write two consecutive posts about Yankee related personalities passing away? I surely didn’t. Yesterday I wrote about world class public address announcer Bob Sheppard’s death. Today it’s owner George Steinbrenner.
Steinbrenner succumbed to a massive heart attack this morning. After suffering the heart attack he was rushed to the hospital and died shortly thereafter. (Details are still sketchy as the story is breaking while I’m writing this.)
Steinbrenner was loved and hated by baseball fans all over the country. His quick hook with his managers and spending habits with free agents helped shape the landscape of the business of baseball today. He was often criticized by fans and media alike for his questionable moves and was even made fun of in one of my favorite Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketches.
But the thing about Steinbrenner that no one can deny is that everything he did, from Billy Martin to Yogi Berra to Reggie Jackson and so on, he did because he believed it would help the Yankees win. His commitment to winning and doing everything he could to build a winner is what he should be remembered for the most.
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RIP Bob Sheppard
By now everyone who reads this already knows that Bob Sheppard, long time public address announcer at Yankee Stadium passed away yesterday. Though this is not Mets news it’s not strictly Yankees news either. It’s baseball news.
To most of us who grew up in the New York area hearing Sheppard’s voice for the first time at a game, whether it was a Yankees or football Giants game, is an event that is never forgotten. For me it was when my friends dad got the company field box at Yankee Stadium to take a few of us to a game in celebration of my friends birthday. I was maybe 10 years old (possibly 9).
The first thing I remember was the awe I felt at being so close to home plate (the seats were just to the third base side of the plate but still under the screen). The second was the voice announcing the starting lineups. That voice was that of Bob Sheppard.
I don’t remember anything about the game itself except that Reggie Jackson was playing right field. But I remember Sheppard’s voice saying “Now batting… number 44… the right fielder… Reggie Jackson… number 44.” The sound resonates in my head.
Sheppard died at the age of 99 and will be missed all around baseball.
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Big News From LeBron James
There was a big development in the LebRon James situation today. It’s all over the news. No, I’m not talking about his Yankees cap being an indication that he’ll be signing with the Knicks. I’m talking about his opening a Twitter account. That’s right. He’s @kingjames on Twitter. Yes, this is what’s passing for news these days.
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DiPoto Named Interim GM of DBacks
Congratulations to former Mets reliever Jerry DiPoto on being named interim general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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Orioles Fire Trembley, Promote Samuel
When I saw the news that the Orioles fired manager Dave Trembley my reaction was to laugh. The Orioles have bigger problems than the manager so making this kind of change right now has limited importance.
(Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com has written a column about what the Orioles need to get back on track.)
The Orioles have promoted their third base coach to be their interim manager. That man is none other than Juan Samuel, forever known to Mets fans as the bust they got in return for Roger McDowell and Len Dykstra. Congratulations, Juan. I wish you the best but I think you’re in an unwindable situation. Good luck.
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Poor Armando Galarraga
Poor Armando Galarraga. He pitched a game that was among the best ever the other day. But it wasn’t quite perfect. That was determined when umpire Jim Joyce blew a call at first base that would have been the 27th out.
A lot has been said about Joyce’s blown call the other day. People are calling for his head. But the 22 year veteran umpire is one of the best in the business. And to his credit he reviewed the tape, saw his mistake and apologized to Galarraga.
But should MLB Commissioner Bud Selig step in and change the call (as many people have been suggesting)? I say no.
1 – There is no replay rule for such a call. Changing the outcome of the game from a 1 hitter to a perfect game would be contrary to this rule. It’s one thing for the umpires to meet on the field and change a call. But for the commissioners office to change the call later based on a replay could only be done based on a protest. Which brings us to…
2 – The Tigers have not filed a protest on the call. A protest would require an inquiry by the commissioner’s office that may have led to a reversal of the call. But since there’s no protest there can’t be (or shouldn’t be) any such inquiry.
If the commissioner’s office does anything regarding this issue it should review the situation to determine if there is a role for a replay rule in such situations.
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